It’s not too late to stop smoking

In previous columns I have poked and prodded us men about our denial when it comes to health issues. In so doing, I made it sound as if all women practice common sense and do the right things all the time. Not so. Although women are “much more likely” to do the right things, there are many who are just as stubborn and misguided as us men. Case in point is an email I received recently. It’s what I call a table-turner.

A husband has been trying to persuade his wife to quit smoking. She falls into the category of a very heavy smoker. That is 30 pack-years or more (one pack a day for 30 years, or two packs a day for 15 years). The wife’s rationalization in response to her husband’s plea is that there is no sense in quitting now because if there is damage, it has already occurred. As such, she might as well live out her remaining years enjoying her smoking. The husband responds that it’s never too late to quit, and that some good will come out of it. Quitting smoking may help with her shortness of breath, and he hates to see her hacking and coughing so hard, especially in the mornings.

As to the wife’s stand, she is right that some damage, and possibly major damage, likely has already occurred. However, if she quits now, there are advantages that include reducing her risk of dying from heart disease by 50 percent. Sounds good, but to put this in perspective for anyone who has invested so much time and effort trying to destroy his or her health, this reduction may not be as good as it sounds. The reason is, her risk of heart attack may be very high, and a reduction may still leave her at high risk. Analogy: If you make only $1 per hour on your job and you get a 50 percent raise, you still, despite the hefty percentage increase, aren’t doing very well. Even so, the wife would be much better off reducing her risk, whatever the amount, as her husband insists.

Let’s look at her lungs and see if she can benefit by quitting now after all these years.

Chronic obstructive

pulmonary disease(COPD)

Odds are good the wife suffers from COPD. The heavy smoking history, the shortness of breath and the chronic hacking cough offer strong support. COPD is a group of diseases that block air flow through the respiratory passages. This makes breathing difficult. The two most common contributing conditions are chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Chronic bronchitis is an ongoing inflammation of the delicate lining of the respiratory pathways. The inflammation arises from the irritation caused by cigarette smoke. In turn, the lining swells and produces copious amounts of mucus (sputum/phlegm), which reduces the size of the pathways, interfering with breathing. A severe hacking cough goes hand in hand with chronic bronchitis, as the body tries to clear out the mucus. I might add, taking over-the-counter medication to suppress coughing may bring some relief, but it works against removing the mucus. It’s a foolish solution for a serious problem, in other words.

Coughing is only one complication of chronic bronchitis. Because breathing is impaired, the body cannot load up the blood with normal amounts of oxygen. It’s like sending off delivery trucks from your warehouse half-full. As the blood circulates, it delivers less oxygen, which can cause breathlessness and fatigue.

When it comes to chronic bronchitis, the husband is correct. If the wife stops smoking, the irritation will be removed. This should reduce swelling of the lining and mucus production, removing the cause for the coughing. She also should feel better, and have more energy and less breathlessness from the increased oxygen in her blood, and these effects may appear shortly after she quits smoking.

Next week, I’ll discuss emphysema.

Bryant Stamford is professor and chairman of the department of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College. To contact him, email stamford@hanover.edu.